lavatory
Americannoun
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a room fitted with equipment for washing the hands and face and usually with flush toilet facilities.
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a flush toilet; water closet.
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a bowl or basin with running water for washing or bathing purposes; washbowl.
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any place where washing is done.
noun
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Also called: toilet. water closet. WC.
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a sanitary installation for receiving and disposing of urine and faeces, consisting of a bowl fitted with a water-flushing device and connected to a drain
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a room containing such an installation
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the washing place in a convent or monastic establishment
Etymology
Origin of lavatory
1325–75; Middle English lavatorie < Late Latin lavātōrium washing-place, equivalent to Latin lavā ( re ) to wash + -tōrium -tory 2
Explanation
A lavatory is a bathroom or a restroom. You should go to a restaurant's lavatory to wash your hands before dinner. Lavatory is a slightly formal way to say "bathroom." Most people would never refer to this room in their own homes as a lavatory, although they might use this word for public restrooms in schools, hospitals, or other buildings. In the U.K., a lavatory is just a toilet, and its earliest meaning was "washbasin," from the Latin root lavatorium, or "place for washing."
Vocabulary lists containing lavatory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In a tongue-in-cheek post to Instagram, Glass Animals - best known for their 2020 sleeper-hit Heat Waves - claimed culpability for the lunar lavatory malfunctions.
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026
One of the residents admitted to breaking the lavatory bowl in October 2023.
From BBC • Nov. 22, 2025
According to investigators, about midway through a Sept. 2, 2023, flight from Charlotte to Boston, the 14-year-old got up to use the main cabin lavatory nearest to her seat but found it was occupied.
From Seattle Times • May 20, 2024
Mr. Fleurizard then made his way toward the back of the plane, and he went into a lavatory there, according to court records.
From New York Times • Mar. 20, 2024
Between the beds was a broad damp stain on the carpet in the center of which lay a bar of soap and damp wads of lavatory paper.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
